


Distracted™

by Pegastick



Category: Regal Academy (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, first fic, sin ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 18:30:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8856265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pegastick/pseuds/Pegastick
Summary: Astoria wasn't acting like herself. She wasn't insulting Shire as much as she did before.Or maybe Rose was just paranoid about her adoptive mother





	

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah. Didn't think anyone would post a fic about Regal Academy here, did you? Unfortunately for all RA haters, I happen to be fairy tale show trash and everyone in this show is like so shippable you wouldn't believe
> 
> EVERYONE IS SO AFFECTIONATE DAMMIT YOU ITALIAN ANIMATORSS I GET KILLED WITH FLUFF EACH EPISODE
> 
> Uh, anyways, if you came across this...........somehow..........read it XD

_Astoria seems kinda out of it today_ , Rose thought. She nudged Travis, who was close to falling asleep in his chair beside her. “Hey Travis, don’t you think Tori’s acting a little strange?”

Rose’s adoptive brother let out a snort, startled out of his half-asleep state ~~(he totally wasn't staring at Ling Ling across the room. Nope, not at all~~ ). “Huh? Oh. I didn’t notice anything.”

The thing is, Astoria _was_ listening to her grandmother’s lecture on 19th-century literature, but whenever Magister Rapunzel paused or started talking to inanimate objects – which was every 10 minutes – her ivy-green eyes would subtly dart over to the right for a few seconds before flicking back to her book. Every time she did so, Rose would try to pinpoint what – or who – she was looking at, but every time she asks Astoria denies that she ever looked anywhere else but her hardcover textbook. She also took longer than usual to find the chapters her grandmother was explaining – she had marked them, of course, but she strayed from bookmark to elegantly designed bookmark, flipping through the pages aimlessly until Rose guided her hand to the right page. Anyone else would think she was just tired, but Rose knew her friend better than most. Today, her adoptive mother was on Distracted Mode™.

“Tori, can I borrow one of your quills?” Hawk rapped on Astoria, Rose and Travis’ shared table to get her attention.

“Sure.” The absent-minded Rapunzel handed the azure high quality dove-feather quill in she was currently holding to him.

Hawk blinked. He looked towards his seatmate and best friend, Joy, for an explanation, but she had nothing to offer, shrugging. They swiveled their heads towards Astoria, who hasn’t even moved to take out another quill. Then they exchanged glances with an equally confused Rose. Astoria never gave out quills without telling them to _be careful with it_ , don’t _scratch the pages_ with it and for hair’s sake _please_ do _not_ break the tip at any cost. Something was definitely up.

Just then, Astoria’s eyes moved once more, and Rose regarded the next table over to the right; its occupants consisted of Ruby, the notorious Vicky, and the shady Shire, none of whom Astoria was particularly fond of. Shire caught Rose staring and glared. The blonde rolled her eyes and turned back to her friend, who was back to admiring her book’s contents.

Rose continued to stare. Maybe Astoria _was_ just really tired.

 

*****************

 

Tuesdays, Headmistress Cinderella would bust out her elf-made dancing shoes and teach her students the dancing sector of their Ceremonies class studies. Some dances require a partner, but on most days one can just learn the dance solo. This was not one of those days.

“Class, I’ve noticed that there has been a lack of sociability during Ceremonies, and we haven’t done partnered dances in a while, so today we’ll be working on ballroom dancing!”

Everyone groaned. Ballroom dancing was way harder than it looked, and you’re constantly worried that you’ll step on your partner’s toes as you both try to glide to the beat. Everyone started to head for their friends who would take the least amount of offense for toe-stepping when Cinderella held up her palm. “Not so fast, my students. When I said ‘lack of sociability’, I meant that you all should take turns dancing with one another. I have noticed that every time we have a lesson on partnered dances, you all head for the same person. In this class, I expect everyone to at least be mutual and not merely strangers. Switching it up is a great way to get to know your classmates, and frankly,” the headmistress shot the class a stink eye, “ _some_ of you need to work out your differences.”

Joy pulled Rose to the side. “Hey, wanna dance together? I’m not getting thrown by Travis again,” she said jokingly.

Rose smiled. “Sure!” Even though Joy was one of her best friends, Rose usually danced with Ling Ling or Travis, since those two were the least likely to slap her for harming their toes.

Travis wandered around and found himself face-to-face with Ling Ling. They both stuttered and sputtered until Ling Ling asked, “Uh, mind being my partner?” Travis’ face flamed as his crush led him to the dance floor.

Hawk firmly marched into the shade of one of the ballroom columns and stood, arms crossed. “Sorry, Headmistress, I don’t feel like dancing today.” He eyed the eager fangirls heading towards him with distaste. Headmistress Cinderella groaned and pinched her nose, but relented. The same thing happened to Hawk’s father when he was a student at Regal Academy, after all. After 4 years of dealing with SnowWhite family fangirls, she was almost _done_ with rowdy admirers.

That left Astoria, standing in a sea of students, who were rapidly pairing up. She glanced towards her fellow brainiac for help, but Hawk gave a listless shrug, pointing at his admirers. She spotted Odette standing alone, but she was quickly led away by Violet. “Everyone’s paired up,” she whispered, panic seizing her.

“Not everyone.” Astoria could almost hear a smile in that smooth, suggestive voice.

“Ah, Shire!” Headmistress Cinderella clapped her hands, delighted. “Why don’t you pair up with Astoria? I know you two are wonderful dancers.”

The straight-A student’s eye twitched as she spun around to glare at the smirking purple cat-turned-human. She stomped in his direction and stared defiantly into his half-lidded eyes. “I don’t like this any more than you do,” she growled, grudgingly placing one hand on his shoulder and the other in his left palm.

“That’s such a _lie_ ,” Shire’s smirk widened as he position himself as well, one hand on Astoria’s hip. His grin faltered as the Rapunzel’s scowl intensified. “Of course, no one would want to dance with _you_ on purpose.” He held his nose in the air and humphed.

Despite their bickering, Astoria and Shire really were the best at ballroom dancing; they moved with ease, almost as if they’ve practiced together. By the end of Ceremonies, they were merely frowning at each other instead of shooting death rays.

“Okay, _what_ is going on? Even though Shire slays the waltz at this point, there’s _no way_ Astoria would let that go without a fight.” Rose raised an eyebrow as Astoria and Shire bowed to signal the end of the dance. “She didn’t even hurl a first-rate insult about his claws! And Shire is sensitive about his claws!”

“I have to admit that’s strange. The Astoria we know strives to be on top, but this Astoria just let one of her worst enemies outshine her.” Joy widened her eyes as both she and Rose abruptly stopped dancing, coincidentally near Hawk’s shelter.

“Guys, we have to remember that Astoria is one of the kindest people to grace Regal Academy grounds,” Hawk reminded. “Maybe she’s just in a really good mood?”

“If I recall, the person she just spent an entire hour and a half with once put her grades on the line.” Travis spun past with a flustered Ling Ling. “No score, no more.”

“Noooiiice,” Rose complimented Travis on his newfound catchphrase. “But now we’re even more confused than yesterday!”

 

***************

 

And so, abnormal Astoria became the norm that week. During combat training on dragonback during Dragonriding, the bookworm was preoccupied in blasting Vicky and Ruby out of the sky, not once trying to aim at the Cheshire Cat, even though he shot a destructive beam at her. The two were paired up in Art Class, with Shire as Astoria’s model, and she didn’t even attempt at making a hideous sketch of him. She got an A+ on her drawing, of course, but to her friends’ astonishment, chose to leave it in her drawing pad instead of ripping it out at the first opportunity. They knew confronting her directly wouldn’t get them anywhere, so they did the next best thing – seeking out answers on their own.

“Explain to me why we’re dangling from the top of the 20-storey tall Rapunzel Castle again?”

Hawk, Joy and Rose shot Travis high-class deadpans. He knew _very well_ why they were dangling from the roof of Astoria’s bedroom turret, and they did not appreciate the sarcasm.

Using her Pumpkin Magic, the Rose had grown a live pumpkin from the alabaster tiles, whose magical vines were wrapped around her ankles. The pumpkin kept her rooted to the roof as she suspended upside down, peering into Astoria’s bedroom windows. With a flick of her wand, she could extend the vines or shorten them, which was more flexibility than her friends had at the moment – Hawk apparently had the clever idea of freezing his feet to the roof as he hung alongside his team, and Joy and Travis were holding on through sheer strength. If Astoria happens to look out her windows at that very moment, she would see three disembodied heads and a floating body, all upside down.

Yep. Nothing to see here! Just four disgruntled teenagers spying on their best friend!

“She’s just……standing there.” Frustrated, Rose pushed her face up against the large windows, meant to let in the moonlight (even though Astoria still had her bedroom lights on). Honestly, she wasn’t sure how her alert-minded adoptive mother hadn’t noticed human-like shadows lengthening across her blue, letter-and-number-patterned duvet, but maybe it was because she was busy reorganizing the books in the mini-library that was her bedroom.

Unfortunately, her pet bulldog was not. Vidal spotted Rose swinging and barked, trying to scare away the unknown threat. The sudden outburst from the dog startled the four tower-crashers, especially Travis. Poor guy lost his grip and slid off, but Rose and Joy managed to grab his ankles just in time and haul him up and out of sight. Hawk, with the effort of someone lifting a ton of blocks, hefted himself up onto the roof as well.

“Vidal, what’s gotten into you?” The four of them could hear Astoria dole out her tender voice to reassure her pet that no, there wasn’t a threat, and yes, he does deserve a treat for being such a responsible watchdog. They watched as she pulled herself up to the wide windowsill with her hair, still petting Vidal, when dark smoke blew in out of nowhere and gathered into the brazenly smiling form of Shire Cheshire, who had a finger tipping up Astoria’s chin.

Quick as lightning, Travis clapped a hand over Hawk’s open mouth before he could shout a warning. The three of them vigorously shook their heads at the SnowWhite.

“Tori, how come you never pay me such compliments?” Shire gave an exaggerated pout that exactly matched Astoria’s.

Astoria slapped away his hand. “Stop appearing out of thin air.” Vidal wriggled out of her grip and escaped into the room.

“Appearing out of thin air is my _job_ , Tori.”

“Do _not_ call me Tori.”

“Fine, _sweetheart_ ,” Shire purred. “Hey, those arms are empty; want me to fill ‘em in?”

Travis almost gagged. Rose whooped the back of his head to silence him.

Shire pulled the Rapunzel towards him, closing the distance between them. For a long while, the two stood in peaceful silence, arms around each other’s waists, foreheads and noses brushing, with the whistle of the breeze and the rustle of tower ivy as the only sounds punctuating the night. The boys’ eyes were as wide as their disbelief. A smile broke out on Joy’s face. “You know, it is kinda romantic.”

“Yeah, once you get past the fact that they hate each other,” Rose said not unkindly.

Astoria lifted her head and peered into Shire’s vert orbs. “You idiot.”

The Cheshire Cat only grinned and gave her a peck on the lips. “Oh, I love you too, honey.” Then he poofed into smoke and promptly popped into existence sitting against the glass window. He patted the empty space beside him. Astoria ignored the gesture and plopped down in front of Shire, her back to him as she leaned against his chest. Shire didn’t complain.

The four teens exchanged glances. Their team leader, the most rational among fairy tales, the smartest girl in school, was having a secret relationship with the shadiest dealer of RA.

Wow. They did _not_ see that coming. But it was pretty clear why they decided to lay low about it.

Travis flashed back to when Astoria first talked to the cat. Their conversation almost turned into a brawl when Shire threatened her grades. Calling her Little Miss Perfect didn’t help either.

“So,” he looked around at his dumbfounded friends, “it _was_ sexual tension.”

**Author's Note:**

> That was terrible but hope it didn't question your faith in humanity X3
> 
> New person here on Ao3 and just hoping I didn't slip up anywhere when publishing


End file.
